The present invention generally relates to post hole diggers. The present invention more specifically relates to a post hole digger that enables a user to conveniently produce a vertical hole in the ground with minimal interference between the post hole digger and the sides of the vertical hole.
It is generally known to provide a post hole digger for digging holes within the earth for placement of a post therein. Traditional post hole diggers include two concave blades that face one another to form a cylindrical region generally about six inches in diameter. The blades are pivotally connected to one another proximate the top portion of the blades. Extending from each blade is a fixture or cap supporting a shaft handle extending approximately four feet in height. The blades are spaced apart from one another such that each shaft is proximate the inner surface of each of the blades. By thrusting the blades into the ground, the earth is secured between the blades by moving the upper end of the handles away from one another forcing the blades to pivot about the pivot toward one another.
As the hole becomes deeper, the pivoting motion of the blades results in the shafts contacting the edge of the hole proximate the top of the hole. This minimizes the pivoting motion of the blades and thereby reduces the amount of dirt that can be pulled out with each pivoting motion of the shafts. As a result, a user is often forced to widen the width of the hole in order to accommodate the shafts. This can result both in excess effort from the user, as well as an increased use of cement and/or other type of filling for the hole. Further, the use of the fixtures extending from the blades to support the shafts can often interfere with the sight line of the user with respect to the blades, thereby inhibiting free visual access to the hole during use of the post hole digger. Additionally, the traditional wood and plastic handles or shafts are subject to breaking near the fixture that holds them. Further, the nuts and bolts that connect the handles to the fixtures typically loosen during use.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a post hole digger that allows for full pivoting of the blades relative to one another while minimizing the contact between the shafts and the upper edge of the hole. It would also be advantageous to provide a post hole digger that enables a user to dig deeper post holes without having to increase the diameter of the hole opening as the depth of the hole increases. It would also be advantageous to provide a post hole digger that enables a user to close the blades of the post hole digger without having the handles or shafts wider than the diameter of the top of the hole. It would also be desirable to provide a post hole digger having shafts with a configuration that maximizes the sight line of the post hole digger. It would also be desirable to provide a post hole digger having a handle arrangement and blade attachment that minimizes the chances of the handles breaking or loosening during use.
It would be advantageous to provide a post hole digger or the like of a type disclosed in the present application that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features. The present invention further relates to various features and combinations of features shown and described in the disclosed embodiments. Other ways in which the objects and features of the disclosed embodiments are accomplished will be described in the following specification or will become apparent to those skilled in the art after they have read this specification. Such other ways are deemed to fall within the scope of the disclosed embodiments if they fall within the scope of the claims which follow.